use electronic warfare to bring together radar and weaponry

weapons and radar should have a close association in combat in SE2. radar should not only provide some search benefits, but should serve as the basis for how AI blocks and guns see enemies. radar shouldn't be an optional sensor to help you find other players, it should be a necessary component to operate any armament on your ship that isn't manually aimed.

another game, NEBULOUS: Fleet Command (N:FC), does this exceptionally well, so i will use gifs from there to demonstrate how a similar system could work in SE2.

the radar system could easily be broken down into 3 values: tracking distance, tracking quality, and tracking type

1: Tracking Distance

tracking distance would determine how far out you spot a target.

an engineer making unarmed civilian vessels could use large surveillance radars that would let him know of any incoming hostile ships at a great distance. these radars would draw a lot of power and provide little benefit to a ship in combat as the quality of the track would be terrible.

GIF of long distance low quality search radar in N:FC. each scattered red diamond represents where an AI-controlled weapon would point if the crew attempted to fire on that track. for the sake of view-ability, the full range of this radar is not demonstrated.

warships would instead opt to use higher frequency radars with lower range but higher tracking quality.

2: Tracking Quality

tracking quality would determine how effective of a firing solution your AI turrets will have when shooting at someone tracked by your radar.

low track quality = signal marker bounces around where the enemy ship actually is

high track quality = signal marker holds steady around the enemy ship's true location

an engineer building a warship will opt for higher frequency radars that give him a clear track that wont cause all of his cannon shots to miss, the downside would be he now has less range to search for new targets.

GIF of short distance high quality search radar in N:FC. take note of how the red tracking diamonds are no longer scattered but are instead almost directly overlain upon the signature source.

since he wont have enough power leftover to run both a high and a low frequency radar, the engineer would have to try to track his targets at a longer range by using their own radar against them.

3: Tracking Types

the incoming radar waves of an enemy ship's radar could be used against them to triangulate their position and get an extremely rough idea of where they might be.

a smart warring engineer would mount ESM modules on a couple of his ships to detect when anxious cargo haulers are constantly running their radar.

this type of tracking would provide horrible quality, but it would give a rough idea of where the enemy is

GIF of an ESM module in N:FC. Take note of how only the Tracking ID is displayed, there is no distance or red tracking diamond present. Weapons cannot fire on this target until it is detected with an actual radar.

meanwhile a smart trader or miner would only use his radar briefly every few minutes and shut it off and flee once he locates an enemy and realizes it is approaching him.

the same defensive player could mount his own ESM device to detect when someone has pointed a radar at him.

there could be additional forms of tracking such as thermal and radio

thermal could be a cheaper alternative that allows players to track engine signatures, but will only be able to detect ships while they are accelerating or decelerating. this is a feature already present in many SE1 community servers.

radio would basically be what is currently in SE1, you just follow an enemy's antenna or beacon signal. i feel that in SE2 there should be private antenna channels which show allies exactly where you are but only give enemies a very rough idea of your location.

Other Notes

jammers could potentially saturate someones radar temporarily, putting fake warship signals all over their screen whilst the jammer is active and pointed in their direction.

GIF of my ship being jammed in N:FC. Take note of how the ship jamming me has no data shown, not even its tracking ID. The only detail present is a "J" in the direction of the jamming source. The yellow false markers are only present in the direction I am being jammed from.

custom missiles could benefit from having seeker blocks that follow incoming radar signals or even emit their own radar signals. radar could be the basis for how AI blocks are able to see enemies

smaller and more flat ships could potentially receive some bonuses to stealth by having radar be less likely to pick up their signature.

radar signatures dont have to be super in-depth, the system could just be based on the amount of PCU on your grid. more PCU = more signature. this would help casual players feel less overwhelmed by such a mechanic